Being Cyclonis
by Saffronica612
Summary: A random teenage girl is kidnapped from her normal life on Earth by Cyclonians because of her natural aptitude for crystals. In Atmos, she gets a shock: she is the next Master Cyclonis! Now, she must go through the episodes making her own decisions. MC/DA
1. Kidnapped

Author's Note: I know. This is extremely naughty of me. I have two perfectly good stories going, and for some reason, I just have to start a third. And this is a long one, too.

I've never really done much with OC's, so if you're one of those OC haters, this isn't the story for you. Basic summary is it's done all from the OC's POV. The OC is a regular teenage girl kidnapped from Earth by the Cyclonians because she showed natural crystal aptitude, and forced to become Master Cyclonis. However, she's extremely tenderhearted. This basically follows all the big episodes with Master Cyclonis in them, but it also includes some fluff in between. And yes, there will be a MC(who really is an OC so I'm just confusing myself)/DA pairing. What I ask is that you give it a chance!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Storm Hawks.

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It was my first high-school dance, and I guess I was enjoying it. Sort of. I've never really been the most social person, but it wasn't _too_ bad. I tried not to think of all the things I could be accomplishing if I were back at home, and enjoy the music. I awkwardly swayed to the beat.

We were in the gym pavilion, and all the lights were off, except for purple UV lights. Everyone was lit up weirdly, and you couldn't tell who anyone was. The music was playing so loudly, I swear, my eardrums were about to burst. The beat pulsated through me, shaking my very bones with its overwhelming vociferousness. Around me, people were grinding. I even saw a few couples making out. _Why did I come here again?_ I wondered.

Try not to think of those new rocks you found that you want to catalogue. Try not to think about that book you could be reading. Try not to think about the minimal amount of homework, which you already did, which you can check and recheck instead of just standing here. Try not to think—too late.

I was a freshman, so that meant I was the new kid in school. Yes, the entire class was also new, but I had never been that good at making friends. I was too much of a bookworm. I wasn't with any group of girls, either. I felt like the only one standing alone on the dance floor; everyone else had someone to dance with.

Not to mention I was completely embarrassed about my clothing. It had said "casual" on the invitation, and I had no idea what to wear, so I was in a cute little dress over some jeans. My mother always tells me I'm beautiful, but I just can't see it in myself. I'm so small, my skin is super-pale, not tan like it's in style, and my hair is long and dark. My eyes are the weirdest color, too—not really a dark blue, almost with a bit of grey in them. I guess you could call them violet. I'm not "beautiful" at all—I just look really bizarre. Usually, it doesn't bother me, as I have my nose in a book more often than not, but tonight, I felt like it was shining a spotlight on me screaming, "Here's the Freshman Class Loser!"

Someone, some random stranger, appeared behind me and started grinding on me. I assumed he was a senior, because he was way taller than me, but under the bad lighting I couldn't see any more. I tried to disentangle myself quietly, but his hands snaked out and grabbed my waist, pulling me in closer. "Dance with me," he whispered, and I still don't know how I heard it over the music.

One side of me screamed, _Danger!,_ but then I thought, _It's a dance. We're at a school, and we're in public. He can't do anything, so you might as well enjoy yourself._ I couldn't believe I was doing it, but I started to sway with the beat. He smiled, the UV lights flashing weirdly off of his teeth. The song finished, and another one started.

He let go of me, and just grabbed one hand, pulling me outside. I tried resisting at first, but his grip was too strong, and I didn't want to make a scene. There were a few people sitting outside, but none of them were paying much attention to us. Again, my danger sense prickled.

I shivered involuntarily, and he must have thought that I was cold, because he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. He was really warm, so I actually didn't try to shake him off. It was a kind gesture, plus, it did feel nice.

Outside, it was dark, but the lighting was better, so I was able to get a good look at him. He was tall, with black hair that sort of flopped all over. He had really handsome features, one might describe them as "chiseled." He was muscular but not overly so.

Then I saw his eyes, those bright, crimson eyes, and I stopped breathing.

I am such a nerd. I don't even have TV, but I still know who the Storm Hawks were. And I was positive that this was the Dark Ace.

I forced myself to inhale, and keep walking like nothing had happened, but inside, my mind was whirling. First, what the heck was the Dark Ace doing at a high school dance!?! Second, why me? Why did he single me out, dance with me, and was now taking me who-knows where?

I made myself think logically. There must be an explanation for this: maybe he was just some crazy fan who had found color-contacts. That was it. He was some loser senior who took advantage of the new kids and creeped them out. I tried to duck away and return to the gym, but he yanked me around another corner.

There was a motorcycle.

Suddenly, this stopped being creepy and started becoming way too real for my taste. He was kidnapping me! I mean, if he really were Dark Ace, I might not mind too much, but this was just some creepy kid who was going to throw me on his motorcycle and drive away.

I squirmed with a new intensity, fueled by the sight before me, but nothing I could do could break his grip. "Stop wiggling, child," he growled. "Master Cyclonis wished to see you. And what the Master wishes, the Master receives."

That froze me up. Master Cyclonis? She was my absolute favorite character! But if she wanted me, she probably had some evil plan that involved me killing people, and that was a definite "no." Among my many flaws, I have the absolute softest heart in the world. I can never hold grudges, or stay mad at someone, or extract revenge (unless it's playful revenge; that's different). _Meeting Master Cyclonis doesn't mean you have to cooperate with her,_ said the evil voice inside my head. I listened.

The Dark Ace seemed to notice my resolve cracking. "Just get on the skimmer," he said kindly.

My scientific mind wasn't convinced, though. I needed solid evidence that this all was real. "Give me a crystal, please," I asked. "We don't have crystal technology here on Earth, so if the crystal works, and I can blast something with it, I believe you and I'll come quietly. If not, then—" He cut me off, handing me a crystal.

"You're a smart girl," he chuckled. "I can see why the Master wanted you."

I looked at the crystal in my hand, feeling rather silly. Actually, I had never blasted anything before. What if nothing happened? I tried reaching out to the crystal with my mind, feeling like an absolute idiot, and to my surprise, I felt its energy. I aimed at a random tree and let it loose. A red bolt of light exploded from the hand holding the crystal and blew up the tree completely.

Wow. So it all was real. And it felt _good_ to use a crystal, like it was something I was born to do. "That's the first time you've touched a Firebolt?" Dark Ace commented, clearly as impressed as I was. "You're a natural."

He climbed onto his motorcycle—no, skimmer—and I scurried up in front of him, sitting sideways. With one hand he made sure I wasn't going to fall off and with the other he started up the engine. Sure enough, after going a few feet, wings popped out and the skimmer lifted into the sky. Another piece of proof that this either was real of I was completely crazy.

As the ground dropped away I began to feel a bit woozy, so I was glad of his arm steadying me. Looking down, I was everyone streaming out of the gym, screaming and making a ruckus. I was hit by a stream of doubts. The Dark Ace brought out the worst in me. First, I was destroying school property, and now I was allowing some stranger to kidnap me. No, wait, he wasn't even a stranger: I knew he was evil. I knew he had bad intentions. I knew he had killed more Sky Knights than I cared to count.

He pulled out a crystal and threw in front of the skimmer, opening up a strange portal. Atmos would lie beyond it. I had time for one last glance at my world before we flew through.

I. Was. Such. An. Idiot. This wasn't some fairytale story! I was being kidnapped by the freakin' _Dark Ace_, and I let him do it! I started hyperventilating. Why, why, why did I agree to this? Why did I ever wish to go on an adventure, like in all the books I read? I decided that adventures were officially a lot more fun when they stayed on the page.

The Dark Ace noticed me freaking out. Of course he noticed me freaking out! I was practically sitting in his lap! "Are you going to try to escape?" he asked.

I nodded. Stupid, don't give away your plan! But he had taken me by surprise, and I couldn't seem to help but do as he said, or be truthful in answering his questions.

"Then sorry, kid, but I don't have time for that. When you wake up, you'll be safe in Cyclonia."

_When I wake up? What—_he put some kind of crystal in front of my face, and I couldn't help but stare into its depths. It was a dark red, just like his eyes.

_Snap out of it!_ I told myself. _You're stronger than this! You can resist!_ With amazing effort, I began to wrench my gaze away.

His voice sounded in my ear, slightly frustrated. "Don't resist it, kid. Just go with it. You'll be fine. You'll be safe."

Safe? Yeah, right. Even though I knew there was a fat chance of that, I couldn't help but believe the lies he whispered to me. My eyes snapped back to the red crystal, then fluttered closed. My last thought was, _I am in soooo much trouble._

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And that's chapter one! Surprisingly enough, it was really fun to write! I can see why there are so many OC's around.

So what do you think? Should I continue? Please review!


	2. Master Cyclonis

Author's Note: Wow! I'm surprised that someone actually reviewed! Thanks, Bergie. I guess this story is continuing after all.

Oh, and I don't own the Storm Hawks. I never have, and I doubt I ever will, but I still have to write this stupid disclaimer before every chapter!

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I was in a soft bed, and my head throbbed. What had just happened? The last thing I remembered was stunning red…it reminded me of something. I thought back. I had been at my first high school dance.

Oh, God! Someone didn't drug my drink, did they?

The red—what did it remind me of? Eyes, glowing ruby eyes. The Dark Ace.

The whole fiasco of the evening came back to me. I had been kidnapped by the Dark Ace. _You can't be kidnapped if you go willingly,_ said the evil voice in the back of my head. _Shut up,_ I told it.

So I was on Cyclonia, that could be assumed. I kept my eyes closed, not moving a muscle, pretending to be still asleep. I might as well get my bearings before I made it obvious that I was conscious. Knowing Master Cyclonis, she had probably ordered some Talons to watch over me, and bring me to her as soon as I awoke.

I realized that I was extremely comfortable, and it occurred to me that I wasn't in my own clothes. From the feel of them, they were perfectly tailored, and made of leather. They were probably purple or red, too, as that was the general color scheme over here. There was also a soft cloak around my shoulders. There weren't that many female Talons, I decided, so I bet Cyclonis lend me and extra pair of her clothes. I couldn't believe it—I was wearing her cape! Her awesome cape that I was so jealous of! I chose not to think of how I had gotten out of my clothes; I mean, Cyclonia probably had servants, right? Some would be female. Anyway, it was done, so there was no point stressing out about it. Cyclonis's clothes were so cool, too! Maybe being on Cyclonia wouldn't be so bad after all.

I decided I shouldn't be completely defenseless here, that I should have a trick up my sleeve. Remembering the crystal, I reached out with my mind to see if I could sense any.

There was a strong, destructive feel in the corner of the room—another Firebolt, I decided. There was also a strange, almost icy-feeling crystal sitting by the door, on a desk (don't ask me how I knew there was a desk). I decided it was a Paralyzer. I'd grab it on my way out.

Now that I had calmed down, and had an inkling of a plan, I opened my eyes and pushed myself into a sitting position. Blood rushed from my head, causing a wave of dizziness, but I steadied myself. I looked around.

Of course he was sitting in the corner. I knew he used a Firebolt crystal in his sword. I felt stupid for not realizing it before. This was going to make grabbing the Paralyzer a lot harder.

"Up already? I'm fairly surprised. That was an extremely strong Hypnosis Crystal, specialized in causing victims to sleep. But then again, they're supposed to be impossible to resist, and you did that just fine." His voice sent cold spiders scurrying down my spine. Why was he having this affect on me?

I stood up too quickly, and shook like a tree in a hurricane, leaning from one side to the other as I desperately tried to regain my balance. He rushed over to steady me, causing me to blush. I caught a look of myself in the mirror.

I looked surprisingly like Master Cyclonis, especially in her clothes. I was completely right on that guess, too—everything, the cloak, the armor—was just like she wore in the cartoon. My eyes were an even more intense shade of violet here in the Atmos, and although my hair was long and brown, the natural red and black streaks were even more evident in this world. Oh, and did I mention that I was still way to pale? No magical tan for me, no sir!

I noticed the other form in the mirror, too—Dark Ace, standing behind me, steadying me. A plan began to form in my head.

"Get off me!" I grumbled, yanking myself away from him. I felt bad as a hurt expression appeared on his face, then I shook myself out of it. Follow the plan. I stumbled over towards the doorway, where the desk was, and half-collapsed onto it (fake, of course). While clutching the desk, looking like I was trying to stop myself from falling, my left hand slid around and grabbed the crystal. Yes!

The Dark Ace was at my side in an instant. For a moment I thought that he had seen me grab my new weapon, but then he ducked under my right arm, taking half my weight. Who would have guessed? He really believed I couldn't walk. "You should have stayed in bed," he said in a worried tone.

"Let's go see Master Cyclonis," I said. "Get this over with, so I can go home." He gave me a sad look, and his sympathy got me worried. Did he really think I was never going home?

We hobbled out into the hallway. This supporting me thing was a really sweet idea, but in actuality, it wasn't working. It probably had something to do with the fact that I was way to short. I mean, 5'1''! Stupid genes, did you have to make me so tiny? Dark Ace seemed to notice, too, because he scooped me up. Now I was being carried, bridal-style. Great, just great. I wouldn't have pretended to not be able to walk if I knew that this was how he'd react.

We came to great doors of the throne room, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. So this is how I finally get to meet Master Cyclonis! Dark Ace set me down near the door. "Now, be polite, show respect, listen to all he tells you, and don't act too shocked." He gently pushed me in. "Good luck."

_He!?! Listen to all "he" tells you!?!_ _But Master Cyclonis is a girl! A fourteen-year-old girl, like me!_

Apparently, the Master wasn't. _He_ was an old man, sitting in that familiar throne, wheezing. I thought back to all I remembered from the Storm Hawks episodes I had seen on YouTube. I had no idea who was the Master Cyclonis before her. This guy, maybe? Was this her father? Then where was she?

"Hello, child," he rasped. "So good to finally see you in person." So he had been stalking me or something? Creepy. "What is your name, child? Speak up, now."

"Kitty," I squeaked. No, it wasn't my real name, but I was so skittish, besides the fact that I was an absolute cat person, so my classmates had nicknamed me that. It stuck, and soon even my teachers referred to me as "Kitty."

He smiled slowly, like a predator playing with its food. "Enjoy it while it lasts. You won't be called it for much longer." I stared, confused. "I'm on my deathbed," he continued. "And I've known for a long time that I wouldn't have an heir, at least not one of my flesh and blood. No one in the Atmos would do, either, so I started looking to other worlds. That's when I found you."

What he was saying started to hit me. _No heir….found me…_I didn't like where this was going. If he had no heir, where was Master Cyclonis?

"I searched long and hard for a person with the brains and crystal aptitude that you have naturally. When I found you, I sent my trusted servant to fetch you. I'm sorry this is so sudden, but Dark Ace will teach you what you need to know about ruling. Any minute now, I'm going to die, then it will be up to you, _Master_."

He smiled at the shocked expression on my face, then started chucking. The chuckle turned into a cough, and soon he was coughing up blood. I must have screamed, because several Talons and Dark Ace ran into the room. The Master kept laughing and coughing up his lungs, until finally his head slumped. He was dead.

The Talons stared, and bowed their heads sadly, before turning to me and kneeling. That's when it really hit me: there was no Master Cyclonis that I had seen from the cartoon here. I _was_ Master Cyclonis.

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Good second chappie? I think there will be one more about life on Cyclonia before she finally encounters the Storm Hawks. Review!


	3. Crowning

Author's note: Okay, I want to thank Bergie, Helliexx, and Sabrina for reviewing. Also, thanks to Helliexx for recommending it! You guys are awesome! For the people who have read this and haven't taken the time to review, please do! You don't need an account, you can review all the same. Just press the "Review Story/Chapter" button on the bottom of the page!

Disclaimer: I own the Storm Hawks, _NOT!_

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I stood nervously in front of the crowd of Talons. First impressions were always the most important to make, and I wasn't a big people-person. This wasn't going to be easy.

I opened my mouth and began to speak. I had rehearsed this speech in front of a mirror at least one hundred times, and I had done it for Dark Ace, too. Now it was time for me to do it in front of all of Terra Cyclonia.

"Understanding, and misunderstanding. You stand here looking at me, and you see a teenage girl, not even from this world. I understand the lack of trust you might have in me, and I understand how this is a misunderstanding." There was a giant boulder in the middle of the audience; I had put it there for a reason. I whipped out a Firebolt crystal and blasted it into dust. The Talons stared, shocked. "You do not understand my aptitude as a Crystal Mage. You do not understand my planning, strategic, and tactical skills. You see, I am not a teenage girl. I am Master Cyclonis."

I paused, taking a deep breath. I hope no one noticed how much my knees were trembling. "Power. The crowning of a new ruler is a demonstration of power. Yes, power is given to the new Master, but power is also given to the person who has enough power to place the crown on the Master's head. This is a demonstration of my power!" I raised another crystal, using it to levitate the huge crown that was apparently the traditional symbol of the Master's power. I had never remembered seeing it in the cartoon or on the now deceased Master. As it settled on my head, I could tell exactly why: it was heavy. Extremely heavy.

"You are entering a new age for Cyclonia. Yes, we are still trying to take over the Atmos, but this is the end to unnecessary violence, and living in fear. We will unite the Atmos under the Cyclonian flag, but we will do it to make Atmos a better place!"

Dark Ace wasn't too sure about the ending, but it was what I wanted to say. I wasn't evil, and I wasn't going to pretend I was, or lie to my new subjects. I wanted Cyclonia, and all the Cyclonian Terras to be the best places in the Atmos. No more forced labor in factories, especially when we had the crystal technology to mechanize it all. Everyone should receive free education, and have job opportunities. There would be retirement plans for the elderly, and all the sick and homeless would be taken care of, free of charge. I might be stuck ruling Cyclonia, but at least I could make the Empire, and soon the whole world, a better place to be.

"Now, I think this merits a good party!"

This was all Dark Ace's fault. His stupid idea to have a dance party afterwards. At least the Talons looked like they were enjoying themselves.

I sat on my throne under the flashing lights. Huge crystal balls suspended from the ceiling filled the room with changing colors. The music was playing way too loudly again, and my head hurt.

Not to mention I was extremely uncomfortable in a dress again. I had picked the simplest looking one from my wardrobe: a dark-purple, tight fitting gown with red and black embroidery and small silver crystals sown in. In my opinion, it was way to revealing. I mean, my shoulders weren't covered at all!

It was only eight o'clock, and I had a bad feeling that this was going to go on well past midnight. Great. I was going to kill Dark Ace!

Someone came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. Speak of the devil! "You don't look like you're enjoying yourself enough," he said in his low, unsettling voice. He seemed slightly amused. All my anger at him melted. _Stupid bleeding heart! This was his idea!_ Unfortunately, try as I might, I couldn't stay mad at him. "Come dance with me."

The dance floor was like a mosh pit: everyone was crowded up against one another, and I couldn't see anyone's face; the lighting was too irregular. Dark Ace led my by the arm to a slightly less crowded corner, and we began to dance.

It wasn't that bad, actually. Having a partner to dance with makes everything a lot less awkward. My second dance party ever was a huge improvement to my first one. I closed my eyes and let myself move instinctually, swaying with the beat.

I'm not sure how long we danced together, or for how many songs, but when I finally opened my eyes, our faces were close. Way too close.

"Dark Ace…" I warned.

"What?" he asked, his tempting lips about an inch from mine.

"No! You're way older than me! You're like, in your twenties! I'm fourteen!" I protested.

"You think that matters?" he replied. He smiled seductively.

"I'm your boss!" I shot back. "How do I know you're not just doing this to get a pay raise?"

"I'm already your Talon Commander, Master," he whispered. Shivers ran down my spine. "I don't think a higher position exists."

Why was I shying away from this? Was it because inside, I really wanted it, and I didn't want to admit it? I had always thought Dark Ace and Master Cyclonis would make a cute couple. I never imagined that I would be the Master Cyclonis in that cute couple.

The music stopped, and I realized the party was over. I quickly backed away, faking a yawn. "I'm going to bed," I said, making excuses. "See you tomorrow. We have an Atmos to conquer!"

I have never kissed a boy before. I'm not sure if I'm sad or relived that it didn't change tonight.

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Aw…poor Kitty/Cyclonis. No first kiss for her…yet. Coming up tomorrow is "Storm Engine"—we'll get into the real action!


	4. Storm Engine

Author's Note: Okay, I really want to thank Helliexx for reading and reviewing…you were the only person who bothered to send me feedback, but I don't mind. Even if only one person is reading my work, that's enough.

Hey, for you other people who are reading, please review! You don't need an account. Just hit the button on the bottom that says "Review Chapter/Story" and type something!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Storm Hawks.

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It had been about four months since I had been kidnapped and forced to rule Cyclonia. In four months, a lot had changed.

I sent Dark Ace on the farthest missions, so much that he was rarely seen around the palace. I felt kind of bad for keeping him away, but I still didn't know what to think of him. He intimidated me, weirded me out a bit, and in a strange way, attracted me, so I told myself it was for the better if he wasn't around.

I still woke up sometimes thinking that I was at home, only to be surprised again by my huge quarters. I mean, my entire downstairs floor back on Earth could have fit into my bedroom and there still would have been space to spare. Sometimes, I wait for the real Master Cyclonis, or some Talon to come storming in, screaming, "You're an imposter! Get off that throne!" but that happens less and less.

I guess I'm getting used to ruling an empire.

I could certainly get used to the crystal part. I play with them hours every day; I'd spend more time with them if I could, but I do have all of Cyclonia to run, so I don't indulge myself. Still, I always enjoy making inventions for my subjects. I've modified crystal engines to make them a lot more fuel-efficient, I've developed several different versions of factory machinery to replace our laborers, letting them do jobs that they actually like, and I've created and recorded a grand total of 142 new types of crystals.

My citizens thought I was crazy at first, when I began changing all the Cyclonian policies, but they began to get used to it, and to trust us. We don't rule by fear anymore: I can honestly say that every single Cyclonian Terra has stayed Cyclonian by choice, and wouldn't want to return to Atmosia. It's taken a lot of hard work, remodeling houses, buildings, and streets, completely redoing the health-care and education systems, setting up new democratic Terra-governments that report to me, but we are making this world a better place.

My absolute favorite thing to do is walk through my Terras, talking to citizens about their problems and giving away new crystals to people who look like they need it. For the first time in history, I think that the Cyclonians actually like their Master Cyclonis. I mean, all the Talons greatly revere my crystal powers, but I get the feeling I'm being obeyed out of respect, not fear.

The only thorn in my side was the Atmosian Sky Knights. When we stopped raiding their Terras, they began raiding ours. It took all the efforts of our Talons to keep our people safe, and luckily, there had been no casualties, yet. I decided that we needed to send a message to the Atmosians, that even though Cyclonia was peaceful, we were not weak.

That where the idea for the Storm Engine came in. No, I didn't want to destroy all the Terras besides Terra Cyclonia. What I wanted to destroy was all the sky rides.

I had done the calculations, checking and rechecking my math, and I was positive: the Aurora stone wasn't powerful enough to destroy all the Terras. However, any ship that was in the air at the time would feel the Cyclonian wrath. It would be a simple matter to warn all my Terras to stay inside and keep their ships docked on the designated day, and wipe out all Atmosian transportation. Without sky rides, there would be no raids, keeping my people safe for the immediate future.

Now I stood by my nearly completed Storm Engine, briefing my captains about how to spread the word through the empire that tonight, all ships had to remain firmly on the ground. I heard footsteps behind me, and I knew that he was approaching.

"Dark Ace, so glad that you could join us." My voice was cool and collected—I sounded positively nasty. Why was I treating my chosen champion so rudely?

"Master," he growled, sinking into the customary Cyclonian salute. I didn't turn around, I kept talking, but I felt his eyes on my back. He would be the one to fetch the last piece, the Aurora stone. Even when the Carver man failed me, I knew that Dark Ace wouldn't. He never failed me.

I lifted the Aurora Stone above my head, letting the metal fingers of my Storm Engine grab it and place it in the opening. I couldn't help but feel the thrill of victory. This was it! He had already fetched the stone for me, and single-handedly taken out all the Sky Knights who had invaded. I felt like I should say something deep and evil about storms, but nothing came to mind. Oh, well.

Suddenly, I heard sounds of fighting outside. Talons were being taken down right and left, and by only one skimmer, by the looks of it. Dark Ace caught my grimace, and said, "I'll take care of it, Master," before running off to get his skimmer.

Then came the hysterical Talon with donuts all over his uniform, wailing about how two Atmosians had infiltrated the docking bay. I tried to soothe him, but there was no calming him down, so I walked with him to the scene of the crime. Sure enough, there were unconscious Talons and donuts everywhere.

I thought back carefully to the episodes I remembered, and I realized that this was the Storm Hawks, infiltrating my palace! I raced back up to my throne room, only to see two of them trying to grab my Aurora stone. It was the blonde one and the Wallop. Try as I might, I couldn't remember their names.

"And you are?" I asked.

"Busted," Blondie groaned. Great. I had a wise guy robbing my throne room. He shot a bolt at me from his crossbow, but I had been training with my crystals. It took little effort to turn the thing into energy which I controlled, and use it to blast him. I deposited them both in the large crystal chamber in the center of my pet invention. It had absolutely no purpose except to hold anything without breaking, which was coming rather in handy now.

I think they assumed that they would be killed when the Storm Engine began, because they were saying their goodbyes. "Finn, I want you to know that you're my best friend," the Wallop said. Suddenly, I remembered: Finn, Junko, Aerrow, Piper, Stork, and Radarr. Finn replied something about breaking a lamp.

There were footsteps behind me, and I knew that two people had entered the room. I whirled to see a redhead and a purple haired Talon.

The woman with the purple hair looked familiar—Starling. She used to be a Sky Knight of one of our conquered Terras, and had applied to be a Talon in the unemployment office. I remembered now how she was said to have infiltrated the Talons in the first episode. Surely she wasn't going to betray me, not when she knew that the Cyclonians were the good guys here?

Aerrow looked just as cute in real life as he did in animation. He had crazy red hair that stood up all over, and dazzling green eyes. However, he felt like a friend, or a brother. I didn't feel at all towards him like I did the Dark Ace.

I rushed over and gave him a huge hug. "Aerrow!" I squeaked. "It's so nice to finally meet you! Has Starling been giving you a tour? That's so nice of her! I'm really happy you get to see what we've done with Cyclonia and all!"

Aerrow stared at me like I was crazy. I realized I probably did look crazy. I mean, I was supposed to be an evil empress; I should play the part. I sighed. "Sorry—not evil enough? I'm new at this, so bear with me!" I returned to my place at the Storm Engine, my backs to them, and said in my most menacing voice,

"So you're the annoying brat who keeps trying to mess up my plans. A bit young for a Sky Knight, aren't you?"

"I was just about to say the same thing!" Aerrow shot back. Okay, I can see why Dark Ace kept trying to kill him in the cartoons. I mean, seriously, a comment about my age? Everyone thinks I'm three years younger than I really am because I'm so darn _short._ I didn't let myself lose my temper. _They think you're evil_, I reminded myself, _even though you've never done anything evil in your life. Even though ever since you became Master, Cyclonia treats its citizens better than Atmosia does. Misunderstanding._

"I'll hold off the witch, you go free your friends and get the Aurora stone!"

Okay, now I was mad. I had worked for so long to make her Terra a better place, I had trusted her, and given her a job, and now this Starling was calling me a _witch_!?! What had I ever done to her! She whirled her purple nun-chucks, breaking the head off of my staff. That was the best she could do? My staff reassembled itself, and I gritted my teeth in frustration and shot her down with a single blast of power.

I turned to Aerrow, who was climbing on my Storm Engine. I flew over towards him, dropping to the ground and letting my robes fall off, revealing battle armor underneath. He looked surprised and scared. I blasted at him, and he jumped out of the way, returning it with a bolt of blue power that completely lit him up. The Lightening Claw. I easily dispelled it to the ground around me. _Problem with lightening?_ I thought. _You're immune if you have a lightening rod._

A few more blasts—each time I nearly had him, but he kept getting away. I even hit my precious machine once! I grumbled in frustration, getting ready to blast him again when I noticed someone behind him.

A red bolt of energy hit Aerrow square in the back, causing him to fall to the floor. "You always did have to have the last blast, Ace," I said jokingly. The Dark Ace smiled. My Storm Engine whirled, as it had finally warmed up and the great storm was going to start. The ceiling began to disappear and the tempest howled outside. I smiled, too: I had never liked sunny weather; I always preferred the rain.

Somehow, Aerrow had managed to get up, and he was standing above the Aurora Stone. He wasn't going to be able to get it out: I knew that. I had designed the machine as such. He seemed to realize it too, as he raised his daggers above his head.

No! He wouldn't! There was nothing I could do, only watch as he brought his weapon down, destroying the Aurora Stone and unleashing the half-formed storm fully upon Terra Cyclonia. The ceiling was now being torn apart.

He, Starling, Junko, and Finn all raced out of the room. I would have tried to follow them, but the floor buckled, throwing me down. Above me, the ceiling groaned, and I knew what was going to happen. This was the part where the Dark Ace saved Master Cyclonis, or in this case, me.

The Dark Ace was looking at Aerrow's retreating back, and I knew he was going to try to take out the Sky Knight. As the ceiling collapsed around me, I realized the unfortunate truth. This wasn't some episode. This was a real world. And he wasn't going to save me. I screamed, then closed my eyes.

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Okay, I realize the fight scene doesn't follow the episode exactly, and the lines taken from the show are changed up a bit. Still, is it good? This is sort of like the first real 'episode' chapter, so tell me how you like it!


	5. Storm Engine, Part 2

Author's Note: Thanks to Helliexx, Bergie, and Aerrow4eva for reviewing. I've now got four stories going at once, three in which I'm updating a chapter every day, and it's your reviews that make it all worthwhile! So thanks!

I do not own the Storm Hawks.

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Something hit me, but it wasn't hard stone and metal on my head like I had expected. Instead, it was two warm arms on my side, shoving me away.

He had heard me scream, and at the last minute turned to save me.

Above, the storm was losing its ferocity, and the gale-force winds were quieting down. The Terra stopped shaking, and everything was still. It wasn't the calm before the storm, no, it was the calm after.

I looked at his motionless form, and I was filled with worry. I had acted extremely rudely towards him since I had first gotten here, and now I wasn't sure if he was dead or not because of me. He had sacrificed himself to save me.

I bent down, wiping the dust and rubble from his forehead. He stirred, and I stood quickly, embarrassed to think he had caught me showing emotion for him. I stepped away as he pushed himself up from under the collapsed ceiling beam. What had Master Cyclonis said at this point? Something like, "You win some, you lose some. Looks like the same applies to you, too, now, Dark Ace."

I couldn't say it. As much as I wanted to pretend not to care about him, it was a lie. The fact that he was willing to die for me only strengthened the feelings I already had for him. Instead, I decided to ask, "Why?"

"I underestimated his strength and skill, Master, and he got lucky. It will not happen again."

It took me a moment to realize that he was talking about losing a duel to that Sky Knight, Aerrow. I had already forgotten about him. "No, silly," I replied. "Why did you jump under that beam? Why not just let it crush me? It hasn't been like I've been nice to you or anything. So why save my life?"

He frowned. "You're my Master. I would die to save you. I swore an oath. I'm a loyal Cyclonian."

I sighed. This was going to be really hard to get used to. "Well, I never want you to do it again. If there's anything I want to change about Cyclonia, it's the fact that one person's life could be considered more important than another's. You have the same right to live as me, so there's no reason to put yourself in danger for me. You could have been killed!" I burst out.

I looked him over carefully. He seemed to be leaning over a little, and one of his hands was in a defensive position near his chest. A cracked rib, maybe? I'd need to examine it more closely to be sure.

"Take off your shirt."

"What?"

I blushed. "Take off your shirt, _please_."

He looked utterly shocked, but he did as I asked. He winced a bit when he had to lift up his arms.

I stepped closer to him, carefully examining his left ribs, where he had been covering them with his arms. Sure enough, a bruise was forming already. I carefully ran my fingers over them, trying to locate the cracked one. I tried not to think about how I was touching his chest. His well-muscled chest.

It was the bone right under the forming bruise; I could feel the crack in it, and tell from the way he hissed in pain when I touched it lightly. I kept one hand on it, right over it, and with the other hand, reached into my pocket for a crystal. When my fumbling fingers finally grabbed the right one, I reached into it and channeled the energy through my other hand and into his broken bone. The bone underneath my fingers liquefied, then reformed into the proper shape.

I stumbled and nearly fell, and before I knew it, his warm arms are around me. He straightened me up, and I was leaning on his chest.

"Tisk, tisk. Do you know how dangerous that was? Risking your life for regular old me? It would have healed naturally, too. There's no reason to put yourself in danger for me," he teased.

I felt quite a bit woozy. I had never used a healing crystal before, and it took a lot out of me. I closed my eyes.

"Master?" The joking tone was gone from his voice, and he was shaking me, worry evident in his eyes. I took a deep breath and felt the world sharpen.

"I'm fine, Ace," I replied. My voice barely shook.

He hugged me tightly. I was more aware than ever that he wasn't wearing a shirt. "Don't you _ever_ do that again!" he scolded. "You can't risk your life for me! What if you had been really hurt by using that crystal?" I was touched that he cared so much about me.

I looked up, staring into his deep, red eyes. For the first time since I had arrived here, he didn't intimidate me, or make me feel small. Lost in his gaze, I felt like I was flying, on top of the world. I carefully wrapped my arms around his neck, and stood on my tiptoes, bringing our faces closer. He leaned down ever so slowly, giving me all the chances in the world to pull away. I didn't. Our lips touched.

I felt like I was melting into his strong body, his warm chest, his soft lips. His arms were around my waist, steadying me, as we stood there together for a long time. I don't know why I was so afraid of this before, then I realized I wasn't afraid of kissing him, I was afraid of what kissing him meant.

I was utterly head-over-heels for this man, and all I could do was pray that he felt half the way I did for him.

We finally broke apart, and he gave me that victory smirk that I had seen so many times, usually after he returned from a successful mission. "Oh, sorry Master, I forgot that I wasn't supposed to kiss you," he whispered. I giggled.

"I guess I'll just have to punish you. Maybe I'll make you do community service hours. Or paperwork." Yeah, it was a lame punishment, but things had changed here on Cyclonia.

Dark Ace laughed. "Community service hours? If that's all I have to worry about, I'll take another, thank you very much." He leaned down and kissed me again.

Above us, the last of the storm clouds finally dispersed, and the full moon shined down on us. It was getting cold, but I don't think he noticed, even though he wasn't even wearing a shirt. The stars twinkled above us.

It was a perfect moment, and I wanted to just stand there forever, so I fought the urge to shiver or yawn. However, I think he sensed I was cold and tired, because he picked me up and began to make his way down.

Luckily, the palace was completely intact—only the very top floor, the throne room, had been damaged at all. By the time he reached my chambers, my eyes had fluttered closed, but I was yet to fall asleep.

I felt him lay me onto my bed, then a light hand swept my hair away from my face. Soft lips brushed my forehead, and a warm feeling rose inside me. I felt loved.

I heard his footsteps as he retreated, and then the soft creak of my door closing. A smile still plastered on my face, I drifted off to sleep.

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That was my cute fluff chapter. They appear in all my stories…in fact, some stories are all cute fluff (Perfect Attunement…it's kind of on pause, sorry!) Anyway, review, please! Next one will hopefully be up tomorrow!


	6. Binding

Author's Note: Nezy and Helliexx, thank you so much! I'm really happy that you like the story, and that you actually care to review. Hey, other people who are reading this who are not Nezy or Helliexx—hit the "Review Chapter/Story" button on the bottom of the page when you've finished reading. I really want to know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Storm Hawks.

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I looked at the Dark Ace, fussing over him. He was a bit scratched up after another encounter with that Sky Knight Aerrow, and, of course, he was refusing to receive medical attention. "You really should be more careful," I grumbled.

"You know, this is really your fault," he complained. "If you didn't keep sending me on really easy missions, when I go on one where I actually get to fight, I might not be so out of practice!"

"But you might get hurt!" I protested.

"Look, kid, it's nice that you care and all, but I've been fighting as a Talon long before you came. Don't stop me from doing my job. Now, if you're going to refuse to send me on any more missions, I'm going to start training." I sighed, crossing my arms. I might be Master Cyclonis, but short of giving him flat-out orders, which I really hated to do, he listened only to himself.

"Will you train me to fight?" I asked hopefully.

"You're the Master," he replied shortly. "It's my job to make sure you never have to fight. Just like it's my job to actually win, so if you don't mind, may I train?"

"Fine. Practice. But I'm going to be watching you. And if you dislocate your already-pulled shoulder muscle, you're stuck in Cyclonia for a month, doing paperwork." He groaned. There was a lot of paperwork to be done, now that everything in the empire ran according to set laws, and although we had a lot of young interns who were excited to fill everything out, the Talons still hated it. It was my newest punishment, as the community service thing didn't work out.

Down at the practice range, I had to admit, there was a reason he was the most feared fighter in all of the Atmos. He was taking on about thirty trainees, who all seemed excited at the prospect of this fight. However, as he whirled, dodged, slammed, and slashed, their smiles dropped from their faces and they dropped to the ground. After about a minute, he was the last one standing, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Now, how about I do that to your instructors?" he asked the fallen class. Their faces lit up; their teachers, on the other hand, looked slightly sick.

This fight was closer; there were only ten of the elite Talon trainers, but they were the best, and Dark Ace was tired out. He quickly took out two, blasting them with his special move as they all tried to decide that the others should attack first. I clapped slowly.

"Don't you have something better to do?" he called up, annoyed.

Actually, I did have something better to do. I was practicing my mastery of crystals, blasting targets, trying to use multiple crystals at once, and trying out new inventions. One of my newest ideas was a fingerless glove with a crystal sown into the palm. This allowed you to blast without holding separate crystals, and I was trying to concentrate my willpower and make the energy form a solid blade, like a dagger except with no metal. In theory, it would form the basic equivalent to an energy blade, but it was attached to your hand and you could completely control it with your mind. In practice, it took a lot of concentration, so I doubted it would be useful in an actual battle. The blasting part worked fine, though.

I glanced at Dark Ace, to see how he was doing, and to my shock, just as I was looking, a bolt of energy hit him and threw him to the ground. He had managed to take down all but three, and they were working together, cornering him, taking pleasure in his weakness. Acting instinctually, I melded the crystal's energy with my own and shot it out towards him.

To my surprise, he began glowing green, and got up. With renewed strength, he took out his tormentors easily. One of them he simply picked up and threw about thirty feet back. Thank god with healing crystal technology patients can completely recover from injuries Earth-doctors might consider fatal.

I suddenly realized what I was doing, and cut the flow of energy. Vivid images from Episode 52 were flashing through my mind. The powerful Far Side crystal. A battle of Binding. Master Cyclonis—me—Binding the Far Side crystal to my will, and killing Dark Ace with the resulting energy blast. I whirled, running for anywhere quiet, feeling sick.

"Master! Was that you? That was amazing! Master? Are you alright? Where are you going?" His cries followed me, and I broke out into a run, not wanting to think about it. As much as I tried to block the picture from my head, all I could see was his body, lit of by the glowing white-red halo, as the energy was too much for him, and he disappeared in a flash. I burst into the library, one of my favorite places to be alone, and hid in my favorite armchair in the corner, crying.

Of course, he found me in all of twenty seconds. "Master, what's wrong?" he asked, kneeling down so his face was level with mine.

_Oh, nothing, only that I'm going to kill you._ "You'll think I'm crazy," I sobbed.

"It's okay, you can tell me anything," he said soothingly. His deep red eyes stared into mine, and I instantly calmed down a bit. In his gaze, I felt safe, warm, protected, and a bit dizzy. I took a deep breath, broke down, and told him everything.

He didn't seem too upset to here that this world was a cartoon in our world. I mean, I suppose the previous Master had warned him, as he didn't seem too surprised when I had recognized him on that first night. He seemed to accept that I knew the course of the war. When I reached the final battle, I was barely able to continue. Only his steady crimson gaze gave me the strength to go on. He listened carefully, not reacting at all when I told him his fate. I looked down, ashamed, tears falling harder.

"Look at me." His voice was gentle and unperturbed. I couldn't lift my head, so he reached a hand under my chin and raised it for me. "Look at me. The future is not set in stone. Things can change. Look at what happened with the Storm Engine."

"How can you speak of this so calmly?" I sputtered. "I'm going to kill you! And you're just standing there! Why aren't you packing your bags and getting out of Cyclonia right now, while you still can?"

He laughed. "You're not going to kill me. The Master Cyclonis you've described from your 'tell-vision' is heartless, cold, and seems to like unnecessary destruction. You're the complete opposite. You've made the Cyclonian Empire a good place to be, against all odds, and your citizens, your Talons love you for it. We're not the bad guys anymore, despite how everyone else sees us. You've changed this history already, and I have no doubt that you'll change it again. I know you won't kill me, because you simply love all life, no matter how insignificant, too much to consciously hurt anyone. Plus, you fuss over me too much to ever hurt me. I trust you with my life."

I felt a lot better. I wasn't evil, and I didn't have to be evil. Every day, I was proving that the Master Cyclonis could be good, and loved. Every day, I was changing the future.

"Thanks," I whispered, wiping away my tears. "It means a lot to me. Okay, I'll practice this Binding with you, but on one condition: for as much time as we do Binding, you spend and equal amount training me in fighting."

He sighed. "That's different," he complained. "I'm afraid I'll hurt you."

"Nothing a good crystal won't heal," I said smugly. "Anyway, the Talon trainees risk getting hurt every day as they learn fighting and flying. I wouldn't ask a citizen to do anything that I was unwilling to do myself."

"Sometimes, I think things were a lot simpler when this was a flat-out dictatorship," he grumbled.

"Dark Ace, are you threatening to pull a coup?"

"Humph. Depends on how much paperwork I'd have to fill out if I were successful. Or if I were unsuccessful." I glared at him.

"Get over it! I know you think my 'evil punishment' is lame! What else should I do, force the naughty Talons to listen to Ravess's music?"

He laughed. "Now that's a truly diabolical plan. In fact, if we could come up with a weapon that shot Ravess's music…" A sonic cannon. Interesting. I'd hold on to that idea.

"So I take it the teaching me how to fight is a yes?" I said innocently.

"Meet me in the arena in ten minutes in your armor. We'll go over the basics of unarmed fighting, using daggers, blades, and staffs." I grinned, hugging him, before running off to get my stuff.

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Okay, I've bitten off way too much than I can chew with all my stories going on at once, so I'm promising the next chapter sometime before the end of the weekend. Depending on how many review I get, it might come either sooner or later. Thanks for reading!


	7. Training

Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long to update. These chapters take awhile to write, and I've been busy, but it's a lot of fun, too.

Thanks for your reviews, Helliexx, Aerrow4eva, and Nezy. You guys are the best!

I don't own the Storm Hawks. Read, review, and enjoy!

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I spent three hours with the Dark Ace, watching him lift and smash boulders, which made Snipe jealous, outrace one of Ravess's arrows, which of course, put her in a bad mood, and fly around. I liked the flying part the best, because after about two minutes of watching him swoop and soar I figured out how to fly behind him. I think he liked the flying part a lot, too, because he spent more than half the time doing it.

Next, it was his turn to pay up. He agreed to go over the basics of unarmed combat, including Sky-Fu, then teach me about all the various weapons that a person could use. He said he'd concentrate on the staff, because that was what most Crystal Mages used.

I stood there, wearing my purple and black battle armor, feeling very silly. I mean, I might have been a bit less nervous if I didn't feel like I was wearing a Halloween costume. Atmosian clothes were taking a bit of time to get used to; I loved my cape, and I wore it all the time, but all the long, purple gowns were so not my style. Where are jeans and a t-shirt when you need them?

The Dark Ace looked at me as if contemplating where to start. Finally, he said, "Attack me."

Great. We were skipping the instruction part and going straight to the fighting part.

I charged straight towards him, swinging one fist in what was obviously an easy-to-block punch to the face. He grinned and parried it easily. Good—he fell for it. I knew I wasn't going to beat him with speed, strength, or skill, so I needed to out-smart him. I was hoping he's underestimate me.

While he was gloating over how easily he could defend himself against me, I tried to sweep his leg. I was partially successful, at least: I did catch him off guard, taking him down. However, I also managed to take myself down. He quickly recovered from the shock of falling and pinned me down.

I tried to wriggle away, but his grip was too strong. I went limp, waiting for him to get up and actually teach me how to fight. "Lesson one," he said, "In real life, you won't have an option to surrender."

"So you're just going to sit on me?" I replied.

He smiled. "Until you figure out how to get me off."

Great. I imagined that fighting would be a lot more fun that this. I struggled a bit, and I realized that by squirming a lot I could loosen his grip. Finally, pretending to be tired, I completely relaxed my body, only to wrench my right hand away and punch him in the face as hard as I could. He moved away at the last second, but he had lost his hold on me and I was able to wiggle away. I jumped back up.

"Attack me again."

I was angry now. He had never wanted to learn to fight in the first place, so was he trying to get me to give up now? Well, it wasn't going to work. This time, I tried to copy his stance, bending my knees and pushing my heels out to form a solid base. I didn't charge at him either; instead, I circled slowly, looking for an opening.

Unfortunately, the Dark Ace's claim to be Atmos's greatest fighter wasn't just an empty brag. He circled me, matching my pace, not leaving a single hole. I was lucky that he had decided not to go on offense just yet.

"Hey, guys, look at this! Master Cyclonis and Dark Ace are fighting!" One of the Talons who was also using Cyclonia's vast training grounds had noticed our sparring match. Slowly, Talons from all over the field came to surround us. Now I had an audience. My humiliation was becoming way too public.

Why was I feeling embarrassed? I had never fought before, and it was saying something that the first brawl I was ever in was with such an esteemed fighter. I wasn't invincible, and this was what I was trying to show the Talons. I swallowed my pride, and as I continued circling, called out, "Hey, does anyone have any tips?"

I heard laughter, but it was good-natured laughter. "Try threatening him with paperwork," one called.

"Keep away from him, stay circling like you are now, very good," came another voice. It was Ravess. I had come to think of her almost like a big sister in my time here. "Now, he's way stronger, but you are smaller and you should be faster…try faking a couple blows, just whatever you do, keep moving and stay out of reach."

Before she even finished speaking I darted in, shooting a blow to his head. He blocked it immediately, and as his arm was raised and his vision obscured, I got in a quick jab to the ribs.

"Good job," he said with a predatory smile. "Now that you've finally managed to land a blow, let's see how well you can ward me off."

Oh, dear.

We continued circling for a couple seconds, then suddenly, as I continued stepping to the right, he stepped left, ending behind me and quickly grabbing me in a headlock. I elbowed him in the stomach forcing him to drop me, and scampered five feet away, panting.

He came at me with a whirlwind of punches, jabs, and kicks. I tried to block a few, but he was just too fast, evading my pathetic attempts to parry or whipping another blow through as if the first had only been a decoy. Every hit he landed on me was feather soft, though. It amazed me that he could have such ferocity but such complete control.

Finally, he stopped, and I leaned down, hands over my knees, panting. He didn't even seem to be out of breath. "Any one of those could have easily knocked the wind out of you, broken a bone, or otherwise incapacitated you," he explained smugly. "Now, are you ready to call it quits?"

"I still have an hour left, and I'm never giving up!" I said. Maybe I couldn't fight, but no one could beat me in a stubbornness contest. Suddenly, I had a thought—I had never truly gotten a chance to use _crystals _in battle before.

"Hey, will you fight me with your blade, and me using my crystals?" I asked.

He glanced around. The Talons were all looking at him hopefully. "Fine," he grumbled. I took out my crystals, and put on my special crystal gloves. Hopefully, I wouldn't be humiliated here.

The Dark Ace shot a bolt of red energy at me, but I easily deflected it into the ground. He raced towards me, swinging his blade, but I blocked all of his attacks with the force of my crystal energy. I lazily levitated out of reach.

"My turn," I said, before throwing a variety of multicolored energy blasts at him. He dodged most of them, parrying the others with his sword, but in the end, the crystals were too much for him. I hit him straight in the chest with a blast from a Paralyzer.

He fell backwards, unable to move, and I smugly levitated down on top of him. "What, you're just going to sit on me?" he growled, angry at his defeat.

"Until you figure out how to get me off," I replied.

He tried to move, but he couldn't overcome the power of my crystals. Behind me, all the Talons were cheering. Finally, he grumbled, "Will you please let me up?"

"Sure," I replied. "Lesson one, good manners will get you far."

The Dark Ace sighed. "Well, I know that crystal fighting is one thing you don't need practice at."

Slowly but surely, over the month my fighting skills improved. There was the time when he had first given me a dagger, I activated it, accidentally burned myself, dropped it, and nearly cut my toe off. Then there had been the time when I had dropped the crystal-staff ten times in two minutes. The crystal part I was fine with, but the staff part just confused me. However, I did learn how to properly balance myself, how to move quickly, and the proper targets to aim for.

"I recommend that you always keep crystals with you," Dark Ace advised, "but at least you'll be able to hold your own in a physical fight." I grinned. Did I actually get a compliment out of him? "For twenty seconds." Never mind. I guess he was bitter about losing that fight to me. Oh, well. A girl can hope.

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Next chapter is going to be the episode "Best Friends." I'll try to get it up sometime next week, more review=sooner!


	8. Best Friends

Author's Note: Thanks to Aerrow4eva, Helliexx, and Nikkitty101 for reviewing. I don't own the Storm Hawks. (Wow, that was a short intro…I guess because this chapter was so long.)

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It was a stormy day, and I had been following the Storm Hawks on my own. I had wanted to get out and do something, so when I heard they were in Cyclonian territory, so I decided to investigate. Surprisingly enough, they were rummaging through one of our garbage-disposal ships.

As much as I was all for "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle," it took a long time to change opinions and lifestyles about conserving the environment. To put it simply, Cyclonia still produced a lot of trash. Of course, that wasn't a good reason to be rummaging through it.

They were taking off now, so I brought my Heliscooter to a hover, following them. Piper lagged behind, looking for an old map that had been thrown away because it was outdated.

My mind began to run. From what I could tell, Piper was a really nice person. She was responsible, mature, and studious—very like me. I had never truly called anyone a friend before, and I was ready to change that. I had a chroma-crystal on me; actually, since the Dark Ace had recommended it, I kept a bag of all sorts of crystals with me at all times.

I quickly activated the chroma-crystal, making my hair blonde and shorter, and my eyes a light blue. That was a good enough disguise, I decided, because only Aerrow, Finn, and Junko had seen me before, and that was really quickly.

Piper was being sucked by the tornado that was forming in the sky. With a cry, she lost her grip on her Heliscooter. Quickly, I swerved mine down, grabbing her with one arm and steering us away from the vortex with the other. The Cyclonian engines were far stronger than her vehicle's, so we pulled away easily. "It's okay," I reassured her. "I've got you!"

"Who's got me?" she said, sounding half-relieved and half suspicious. I mean, really, who would trust a random girl flying around in a storm? If I were her, I would be suspicious!

"Um, my name is…" Oh, great. I didn't want to give her my real name. I wasn't sure if cats even existed in the Atmos, and even if they did, everything here seemed to have to do with the air. "Lark," I said, giving the first birds' name that popped into my head. "I was out in the storm looking for crystals, and I got caught. I was just heading back when I saw you."

I hauled her onto the back of my Heliscooter. "Lark," she said, rolling the name around on her tongue. "I'm Piper. Nice to meet you."

We sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, and all I could think was how I was losing another opportunity to make a friend by being so shy. "So, um, nice weather you have around this part of Atmos."

Piper laughed. "Yeah, you're not from around here?"

I couldn't help but giggle back. "You could say that. I'm from a small, nearly unknown Terra, and I got a…scholarship to study crystals. Why I'm here in particular—I'm looking for crystals. I just love them."

"You like crystals, too?" she gushed. "I thought I was, like, the only person who thought they were cool!"

I liked her already. "Well, I've always been into science and math, and crystals are just amazing! I mean, it's a mixture of applying knowledge and natural talent. I've heard of your mastery of crystals, and I really wanted to talk to you about them. I mean, you're probably the leading crystal expert in the Atmos!"

Piper shook her head. "I'm not that good," she said. "Really, Master Cyclonis is the one I'd be jealous of. She's a genius, besides the fact that she has so many books, crystals, and such a great lab. Aerrow and Starling have fought her, and Junko and Finn did catch a glance of her but otherwise, no one really know what she looks like or who she is, out of Cyclonia. I've heard that she's our age, though. Can you believe that?"

Aerrow had talked to them about me!?! Just how much did they know? "I've heard she's completely crazy," I whispered.

"Aerrow said she was a bit strange," Piper admitted. "He said she seemed to recognize him, and was really nice, then got all evil. I feel kind of bad for her; I mean, she must be really lonely and all."

I decided to change the subject. "So, have you ever tried to combine a levitation crystal and a wind crystal? Because it should allow you to fly really quickly, but the matrixes don't seem compatible."

Piper nodded. "There are a few ways to change the matrix while keeping the integrity. It's very advanced. I've never done it."

_KABOOM!_ A huge bolt of thunder rolled through the sky, cutting off my reply. We both covered our ears at the same time, wincing.

"I was shielding us from the storm," I explained, holding up a crystal.

"I forgot it was there!" she laughed.

"So, when changing crystal matrixes, I read something about altering the chemical structure with energy from another crystal, and I wasn't really sure how it worked…"

Piper and I talked for hours, until the storm finally blew itself out. "So, um, can I give you a ride anywhere?" I offered. I had gotten my few hours of companionship, and now we each had our various duties to return to.

"Up there," she pointed. "It's the Condor! With the rest of the Storm Hawks. Hey, since you're just looking for crystals, you might as well stop by and say 'hi.' I can show you my crystal lab!" I nodded, bringing my Heliscooter down towards the ship.

Piper lead my happily towards the bridge, where the Wallop, Junko, and the pilot, Stork, were sitting. "This is Stork and Junko," she said, "This is my friend Lark. She saved me, and she's really into crystals, too!"

I giggled nervously. "Um, I'm really bad with names, so forgive me if it takes a while for me to catch on."

The pilot looked at me, one eye twitching. "Bad memory is the first sign of mind worms," he declared.

"Thanks for the warning, uh, Storko," I said. Piper burst out into laughter.

"Junko," she said pointing at the Wallop, "Stork," at the mind-worm paranoid Merb.

"It must be the thunder. I swear, if I get brain damage it was from the sheer noise of it!" Piper and I burst out into laughter together.

"Um, Aerrow," Stork said over the radio. "You might want to come back here. Piper showed up, and she's acting…strange."

Soon, two more kids, Aerrow and Finn, ran into the room, looking worriedly at their navigator. We were still giggling. "This is my friend Lark," she explained. "She saved me from the storm!"

"Hi," Aerrow said awkwardly. I felt really uncomfortable—would he recognize me?

Piper saved me. "Lark is really into crystals, just like me!"

"I'm not that good," I replied, mortified.

"What are you talking about?" Piper sputtered. "You created the force field from that crystal that protected us from the storm! I think we forgot about it for a few minutes there!"

"Until that really loud thunder came," I laughed. Piper made a face.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" she said.

"A total buzz-o-rama!" I replied, and we burst out into laughter again. The boys just looked at each other.

The blonde one, Finn, turned to me. "So, I hear you're into crystals," he said, running his hand through his hair. Piper and I gave each other a look, _Seriously, Finn?_ then burst out into another batch of laughter.

Finn looked at Aerrow, who shrugged, saying, "Girls." Finn just sighed and made his way to the other side of the room.

"So, Lark helped me determine the coordinates of the map," Piper said, handing Aerrow, the wet piece of Cyclonian trash. It had been easy to give her the coordinates for a harmless crystal mine where I could be dropped off.

Suddenly, I saw a little blue dog-like thing behind Aerrow. Despite the fact that I had always been a cat person, I decided to try to be welcoming. "Hi little buddy! What's your name?" The thing hissed at me, and leapt to attack me, only to be caught by the red-headed Sky Knight.

"Radarr!" Aerrow scolded. "I'm sorry, I don't know why he's acting like this. Usually, he's friendly!"

"It's okay," I said quickly, embarrassed. "I mean, after all, I am a stranger."

"Hardly!" Piper exclaimed. "You saved my life, and that makes you a Best Friend Forever!"

I had to force myself not to break down in tears right then and there.

"Hey, do you want to see my crystal lab?"

My eyes widened. "_Do_ I!"

Piper and I walked down the hallways, chatting about the most trivial things. For the first time, I was really enjoying someone else's company. Finally, we got to the entrance of her room. I gaped when I saw the extent of her collection. "Bloomers, Blazers, Icers…" Piper had practically every major crystal I had read about. "Is that a floater?" I gushed.

It was a fairly large crystal, hovering over Piper's desk. I poked it a couple times, and giggled as it bobbed back and forth. "You have quite a collection!"

"It's my favorite place on the ship," she said. "It's the only place where I can truly relax, and be me."

I glanced around again. Something was missing. "Where are you books?" I asked, curious.

"I don't have any," Piper admitted. "I've taught myself by trial and error. More error most days. Like that—never combine a Slimer and an Eruption crystal!"

Once again, I was amazed at Piper knowledge. The first thing I did after everything settled down in Cyclonia was read every book I could get my hands on that mentioned. She must have been really smart to have taught herself all of this!

"See this," she continued, holding up another stone. This one was rectangular-shaped and had a strange covering. "It blocks the effects of crystals." She pointed it at the floater, and for a second, it fell back to the desk before it regained its weightlessness. "If only I could find a way to extend the time length…"

She looked at the bright purple chroma-crystal I was wearing around my neck. "Hey, maybe we could try it out of your crystal!"

"Um, I think we're nearly there, I'm going to go to the bridge." Sure enough, we were at the Terra. I felt bad for leaving Piper so quickly, but if she discovered who I was here on the Condor, I knew that there would be a fight, and I wasn't that sure of my combat or crystal skills, especially against her.

"Finn and I will go do some recon," Aerrow was explaining.

No! This was my chance to get off the ship in my own territory!

"No, Piper and I will go. After all, she is your expert on recon," I butted in. Piper nodded hopefully.

"Sure," Aerrow replied uncertainly, and we were off to my Heliscooter.

We got on the skimmer and took off, heading for a ledge above the valley where the Talons mined. Actually, I should say they overlooked the machines which did the mining. No one was forced to labor on Cyclonia anymore.

"This looks big," Piper mumbled. "Maybe we should go back and get the boys."

"You don't need them!" I replied. She was so smart, strong, and independent, so why did she feel like she always needed their approval. _This is why Mom tried to send me to an all-girls high school_, I thought, then I shook my head. Rule Number One: no imagining life at home. It was too painful.

"I didn't mean it that way," Piper replied, hurt.

"Look, Piper, it's just a recon, and you can more than handle it yourself," I soothed. "We'll be fine." Besides the fact that I had no doubt we could take all of them out using crystal powers, I could just tell them not to attack us. If they even noticed us.

We landed, and Piper looked at the machines with great interest. "A mining operation!" she exclaimed. "And the crystals…they seem to have a very similar internal structure to that of your shielding one."

I shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "I told you there were a lot of them around, if you knew where to look."

"We've got to go tell the boys!"

Oh, great. There goes my quiet escape. "Wait, Piper," I said, catching her on the arm. I was tired of lying to her. "Don't you want to know what's really going on here? I—" I was just about to take of my chroma-crystal when she interrupted me.

"You're working for the Cyclonians, aren't you."

"I can honestly say that I am not working for the Cyclonians." You see, when you're working for someone, you can _quit _and _go home_, two options which I didn't have.

"No, they're working for you, aren't they, Master Cyclonis!" she accused, whipping out her blocking-crystal invention. It only shorted out my chroma-crystal for a second, but it was enough to reveal all she needed to see: I was not blonde, nor blue-eyed, and I was wearing my battle armor and cape. I was very obviously Master Cyclonis.

I sighed, deactivating my chroma-crystal entirely. This was not the way I had hoped for things to go.

"Why the disguise?" Piper asked.

"It wasn't like you'd ever invite me to hang out," I replied, sad. No one ever invited me to hang out, not in grammar school, not in high school, and not here in Atmos. "I'd heard a lot about you, you know, how you were a crystal genius, so I waited until you needed someone to save you to see for myself if it were true." She had sounded like the one person I could ever be friends with, and it was the only way I could think of to meet her.

Piper glared at me, taking it the wrong way. "So you saved me to destroy me?" she challenged. "Is that your twisted idea of friendship?" She whirled open her staff, pointing it at me, then firing a blast. Acting on instinct, I repelled it then hit her with a bolt that threw her to the ground, temporarily paralyzing her. I ran over to her and offered her my hand, helping her up.

"No!" I replied. "I just wanted a friend! Is that so hard to understand?" Tears were coming to my eyes. "None of the Talons are my age, and they serve me, and I heard about you and I thought you were the one person who could relate to me—" I stopped talking before I broke down completely.

Piper now just looked confused. She walked up to me, putting her arm around my shoulder. "It's okay, Lark…is Lark even your real name?" I shook my head.

"Kitty," I choked out.

Piper laughed, a friendly laugh, like the ones we had been sharing for a few hours. "Well, Kitty, you might want to consider not trying to take over the Atmos. That generally helps one make friends."

"I am," I sputtered. "I'm just trying to run the Terras that were already conquered as best I can. I'll show you around one day, if you want, if you're interested in seeing my full economic plans and all."

Piper sighed. "Well, I should be getting back now. I don't know what I'm going to tell all them."

I smiled. "Tell them you unmasked me, we fought, you managed to win, and I teleported off at the last second."

Piper laughed, then nervously turned towards the Heliscooter. "Oh, and Piper!" I called. She whirled around, to see me holding a small, purple crystal. "You know what this is, right?"

Fear entered her eyes. "An Oblivion stone," she whispered.

"The only one you're missing from your collection," I said, tossing it to her. "See you soon, I hope. Well, I mean, I don't hope to get in a battle with you, but um, well, you know what I mean!" I gave her one last wave, then I teleported away.

I wonder if they'd notice I was gone back on Cyclonia.

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How did you like it? Well, review! Again, I tried to stay pretty true to the actual episode, but I changed a few things to make it fit the story better.


	9. Trouble

Author's Note: Only one reviewer, makes me sad…Helliexx, you are awesome! Thanks so much for reviewing! As for all you other people who read and don't review *glares evilly* thanks for reading! (hahaha, no, I'm not mad at you. I'm not that greedy!) But please, do review. Random "Hi"s are greatly appreciated. Guess what—_two_ people have already randomly told me "hi" in a review. How cool is that? (All reviews make me happy.)

Disclaimer: (I'm writing it backwards today) skawH mrotS eht now t'nod I.

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No one was in the throne room as I appeared with a bright flash of light. I sighed in relief, before making my way to the great crystal machine. I turned my back to the two great doors, then began working on my next big project: mapping the matrix of a regeneration crystal. They were extremely rare, and if I succeeded, it might become possible to produce them in bulk from laboratories, saving lives.

The doors burst open, and the Dark Ace stalked in. He wasn't looking forward at first, but addressing a group of Talons: "You lead a search party around the northern border of our lands, and I want Talons undercover to see if the Sky Knight Council kidnapped her, or…"

He ranted on and on. By now, all the Talons were staring at me. I just stood there, my back to them all, watching their reactions in a reflective facet of one of my crystals.

Finally, he noticed that no one was listening to him. He half-turned and saw me standing there. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. I could feel the tension in the air. I was in _trouble._

"Leave us," he growled, and the Talons scampered away. Lucky them, they got their escape.

The silence stretched unbearable for a couple of seconds. I turned around to face him. If I was going to get in trouble, I might as well meet it head on.

"Where were you?" he finally said. I winced.

"Um, I went out for a ride and got side-tracked by a storm, so I stayed with some kids. I made a friend, too. I came back as soon as possible. You don't have to worry—no one saw what I looked like; I used a chroma-crystal."

The Dark Ace glared at me. "Do you have any idea how irresponsible that was? You left without a note, or anything! You could have been kidnapped, hurt, lost, or killed, and we wouldn't have been able to protect you! And don't you dare lie to me, tell me exactly where you were and who you were with!"

I dropped my head; I couldn't bear to look at him. "I heard reports that the Storm Hawks were just outside our territory, and I wanted to check it out. There was a really bad storm, and I saved Piper, then I had to take her back to the Condor. Then, it was sort of hard to get away. I'm sorry I took so long."

"The Storm Hawks?" He exploded. "YOU WERE WITH SKY KNIGHTS? THEY WOULD EXECUTE YOU WITHOUT ANOTHER THOUGHT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY LIVES RELY ON YOU? YOU HAVE AN EMPIRE TO THINK OF, AND YOU CAN'T BE SO IRRESPONSIBLE OR STUPID! HOW DARE YOU—"

I was mad. I was really mad now. "I didn't ask for this!" I screamed. "I didn't ask for any of this! You kidnapped me from my friends and family, and I've been a prisoner here ever since. This palace is like a cage! And I don't have any friends here." My voice dropped. "I just wanted a friend."

The Dark Ace looked slightly sympathetic. "I'm sorry about your family, but Cyclonia needs you. Atmos needs you. The future of Atmos is Cyclonia. And as for friends, your Talons all love you. Aren't I your friend?"

I looked at him like he was crazy. "I haven't decided how I feel about you," I admitted. "First, you kidnap me, then you ignore me, then you kiss me, you annoy me about missions, then you're so harsh training me—I have no idea what to think about you. You just confuse me. And even if you were to be considered my friends, you're not a girl. You don't understand doing hair, or nails, or the finer points of crystal science. I felt like she was my sister."

He sighed. "What happened?" he said.

"She was a great friend, and I was just getting to meet her, and she figured out my disguise and we started fighting. And…now she…she thinks I'm evil…and…" I didn't realize I was crying until I felt something drip from my cheek, onto my hands. I was shaking. "I just wanted a friend. I just wanted someone who really cared for me. Someone to remind me of home." My whole body was shaking with sobs. He stepped closer towards me, wrapping his arms around me and patting my back until I had sobbed myself out. It took a long time, as I had held in my sadness about losing my whole world for months.

When I was done crying, he stepped back, and locked something around my wrist. It took me half a second to identify it. "A tracker crystal," I whispered.

He smiled. "You can never run away again."

I glared at the offending bracelet. "I suppose I got off easy," I finally said. "I'm surprised you didn't murder me."

He made a "Humph" sound, then said, "If you had been gone any longer, I might have." I could tell from the relief in his eyes that he was kidding.

"So, do you want me to get Ravess? To do hair and nails with you?" I gave him a look.

"Ravess is nice, but she scares me, a lot. Especially when she's practicing violin. Anyway, why do you think I went looking for a friend?"

The Dark Ace chuckled. "Don't let Ravess hear that," he said. I yawned. I had been feeling really tired lately, even though I had been getting extra sleep. "You're not getting sick, are you?" he asked, worry back in his voice.

"I'm fine!" I insisted.

"You know something I don't."

"It's the Binding," I admitted. "I've read about it. If you overexert when you're not ready, you start becoming sick, until you reach Perfect Attunement."

He stepped back, shocked. "I realized that it was a risk for me, but you never said anything about putting yourself in danger!" he accused.

"It's nothing," I replied. "I'll feel like crap for a couple weeks, then we'll be even better at Binding."

"Oh, no we won't," he hissed. "We're not doing it anymore."

"That's the number one mistake that people make when they start to get Binding sickness! They think that if they stop, they'll get better. It only gets worse, and takes away any change of reaching Perfect Attunement," I huffed. Sometimes, it was good to be a know-it-all. Logic and well-prepared arguments are a lot harder to dispute.

"Fine," he replied. "We'll continue, but not today. Now, why don't you go to your rooms. We've had enough excitement for the day."

"You're not serious." He smiled. "You are serious!?! You are really sending me to a time out?"

"Are you going to come quietly," he smirked, "or will I have to carry you?"

I held my ground. "I am the Master here, and you are not sending me to a time-out!"

"I'm stronger, though. What are you going to do to stop me?" The answer, apparently, was nothing, as I was forced and locked in my chambers. I didn't complain much, as I was tired, and it was nice to have the extra hours to sleep.

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Please review! Pretty, pretty please with an imaginary cookie on top! Imaginary cookies to all reviewers!


	10. Ultimate Warrior Championships

Author's Note: Hey, everyone! Sorry that this chapter took way, way, way to long to finally post! It's hard to write in addition to school, plus I've got three other stories going, and this one just seems to get pushed to the side. Sorry!

Extra thanks to Pascy, Miasinpie, and Little Miss Seaweed Brain for reviewing!

I want to especially thank Pascy. You write the most amazing song-fics, and then, to my surprise, you went and reviewed all of mine! Thanks! You're the real reason that I continued this now, especially when I have so many other stories going. I'm sorry that I didn't update sooner. I'm not really sure I like how this chapter turned out, but here it is anyway!

Disclaimer: Don't own the Storm Hawks.

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The whole next month, my condition went from slightly tired to full-blown sick. If Atmos had a flu season, I would have imagined it were that, but I had been reading up on the Binding and I had an idea what it was. When someone extremely strong of will did too much Binding before their power develops enough, it causes them to be sick until they reach Perfect Attunement.

I hid my sickness very well, putting on makeup for the first time ever to hide the deep purple circles under my eyes, drinking tea and crystal concoctions, and going to sleep early. I didn't slack off at all; I made sure that my empire wasn't affected by my personal bad health. In fact, the Dark Ace was the only one who knew that I was under the weather. We still practiced Binding every day, though my combat training had stopped.

Now, I was sitting on my cold iron throne, trying to listen to what a nervous representative was trying to stutter in front of me. My head pounded.

"We were looking for a Terra willing to host the Ultimate Warrior Championships, it's a wrestling thing, your Highness, and we were wondering if we could have your permission to advertise." I rubbed my forehead and he trembled even more.

"Why can't we just host it here on Terra Cyclonia?" I proposed. Shock flashed across his face, followed by relief and gratefulness.

"Milady, I didn't want to appear as presumptuous as to ask. It would be perfect! You and your Talons will receive free seats, of course," he gushed.

"What do we have to do?" I asked. My head hurt. I decided I was going to take a nap instead of eating lunch.

"Nothing, nothing at all!" he replied. "We'll set everything up. You'll just have to give the introductory speech, I'll give you a card you can read it from. This will be perfect, the training grounds already has an arena, and…"

I wasn't listening as he blabbed on and on about how grateful. It was only one more event that I would have to look all excited at. Great.

Finally, the day of the event came. I felt really sick and tired, and I was only getting myself out of bed each day with the help of crystal energy. Still, I kept my discomfort hidden very well. I was not looking forward to this, though.

I looked down from my throne on the balcony to the cheering masses of crowds below. I really didn't see what was so exciting about wrestling, but if the people loved it, I wasn't going to question it. I cleared my throat.

"Welcome to Cyclonia, let the games begin!"

A large gong was hit, then the first match started. My head pounded. I wanted to be in my cool laboratory, working with my crystals. I felt better there, and I was positive that getting better had something to do with a regeneration crystal (which I had finally managed to map the matrix of.)

"Remind me why I did this again?" I asked a Talon. He shrugged. "I'm going inside," I continued. "I've got work to do."

I walked in to my desk in the throne room, keeping my posture straight until I was out of sight. When I was sure I was alone, I let my shoulders slump tiredly. I wanted nothing more than to just take a nap, but I really ought to get some work done. I groped wearily on my desk for the scroll which held the regeneration crystal's matrix.

When I finally found it, I blinked in surprise. Strange. I was certain I had left it neatly rolled up on the other side of my desk. Was there an intruder here? I listened carefully. Now I was certain that I heard some light breathing. "Hello?" I said. There was no answer. "You can come out. I'm not going to bite."

Silence.

A plan formed in my mind. I walked back out to my seat on the balcony. "Could you bring me my scroll with the regeneration matrix?" I asked one Talon. The Talon saluted, then walked off quickly. Two minutes later, he returned.

"I'm sorry, Milady, I couldn't find it," he said, dumping three other scrolls on my lap.

"Thank you, come with me both of you," I whispered. "Stay quiet. We have an intruder in the throne room."

The Talons followed me carefully as we walked into the throne room, now eyeing all shadows as if they hid the intruder. I suddenly swooped around the desk, catching a familiar looking chocolate-skinned girl crouching down, clutching my crystal scroll.

"Piper!" I exclaimed. "She's an old friend. You can leave us now." The Talons exited the room, bowing.

Piper looked suitable guilty. "I'm sorry for sneaking around in your throne room," she said, "but I wasn't sure if you'd be okay with us—I mean, me, here on the terra." She put her hands, still clutching the scroll, behind her back.

"Do you want a copy of that scroll?" I offered. "I always make a backup for my work, in case one gets lost. I'm sure that it will be more quickly accepted in the medical community if it's introduced by a Storm Hawk, not a Cyclonian."

Piper's eyes flashed gratefully. "I'll say it was the work of the crystal expert Kitty Lark. That is the truth, and you deserve credit for you work."

"Where are the boys?" I asked. She gave me a surprised look. "Really, you never go anywhere without them, and I assume you're all here in the first place to watch the silly wrestling event."

Piper grinned. "They're out on the ring; Finn bought us fake tickets, so we got in by pretending that Junko was the Masked Masher. He's actually fighting fairly well, considering."

I smiled back. It was just like we were hiding out from that storm together again. "Boys, always thinking brute strength in the answer. Speed, superior planning, and crystals are a lot more effective than violence." I offered her a hand. "Come on, I never did get to show you _my_ crystal lab!"

The crystal lab was fairly close, just down the hallway. I had designed it for easy access, and as near to my bedroom and throne room as possible. When Piper walked in, her mouth dropped in awe.

I had one of the largest collections of crystals in the Atmos, all on high shelves and immaculately labeled, in alphabetical order. Actually, the baskets oozed off the shelves and covered the floor of one side of the room. Then, I had an entire wall, floor to ceiling, covered in my collections of texts about crystal science, its history, and its various branches and applications. The remaining two walls looked like the interior of a beehive, as it was little hexagons, each holding a scroll containing information on a crystal, how to recognize it, its uses, and its matrix. Among these scrolls were papers on crystals which I had invented.

The center of the floor was covered in a large table, machines for combining crystals, and a giant microscope. All of it was kept in pristine shape; there was not a spot of dirt or a scroll out of place.

"This is amazing!" she gushed. "It's so organized, so professional!"

I gave her a small smile. "You're the first person who hasn't been daunted by its size or cleanliness."

"Are you kidding? I would live, eat, sleep, and spend the rest of my life in here if I could!"

I looked at her hopefully. "You can join Cyclonia whenever you want," I offered.

She shook her head sadly. "Who would take care of the boys? I'm sorry, but they're the only family I have. You understand, right?"

I did understand completely. "Well, if you ever get tired of them, and need some female company, just stop by. We can paint our nails, gossip, look at teen magazines, and stay up watching chick-flicks way too late."

Piper giggled. "That sounds great! I'll probably take you up on it at least once a month!"

I smiled. It was so strange how Piper and I were on different sides of this war, but we were both fighting for a better Atmos, and we could both still be friends. Suddenly, I coughed, and my legs went weak and I nearly collapsed. Piper caught me. I sneezed, looking apologetic. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm a bit sick," I admitted.

"I'm taking you down to the kitchen for some tea and sandcakes. Sandcakes always make you feel better," Piper replied.

Three minutes later, Piper placed a warm plate of sandcakes in front of me, along with a cup of chamomile tea. I shivered, despite the blanket she had wrapped me in. Okay, I felt really, really, really sick. I was glad that I could just sit there, inhaling the steam from the tea.

"Now, who do I get?" she asked. "Is there some sort of medic or doctor here on Cyclonia?"

The only thing that could help me now was reaching Perfect Attunement. If I could be healed by crystals, I wouldn't have been unwell for so long. I shook my head. "Get the Dark Ace."

Piper looked frightened, but she nodded, then scurried off. I cupped the tea in my ice cold hands, willing them to warm up. Everything was swaying back and forth, like I was on in the ocean.

The ocean…another thing that I missed from back home. I had never seen any oceans here, just Terras and the Wastelands below them. I never saw oceans, or rivers, or forests, especially not on Cyclonia. I missed home. I having a laptop, and cars, and the Internet, and all of my friends. I missed my family so much. I missed my precious little cats. Who would feed them now that I was gone?

I sniffled, wiping my nose with a tissue. No use getting upset over something that I couldn't change. Anyway, it was nice here in the Atmos, and this was my home now. There was no use thinking of the "might-have-been"'s.

The door burst open, and Piper stumbled through, pushed by the Dark Ace. I stood on my wobbling legs, chair clattering to the floor. "What do you think you're doing?" I hissed. "She's a friend!"

"She invaded our Terra!"

"She's here to see the games! She has a ticket! We're neutral until the matches are over, remember? You are violating the peace that we promised! And ever worse, she's my guest! She's in the palace because I invited her to look around. How dare you?"

He looked taken aback. "I saw her, and I assumed—"

"What? That because she was a Storm Hawk, she was here trying to sabotage us? She's my friend!"

The Dark Ace's eyes narrowed. "My first priority is your protection, and there was always the possibility that she was here to assassinate you. Better safe than sorry."

Piper inched away from us. "Um, I'm going to go now, I ought to get back to my team before they start to worry about me."

"Oh no, you're not," Dark Ace growled. "You're going straight to the Cyclonian dungeons."

"Oh, yes she is," I spat back. "Piper—go. Dark Ace—back off. That's an order."

Piper practically sprinted out of the room.

The Dark Ace took a deep breath, as if he was trying to calm himself down. "I don't like you being friends with her," he protested. "She's the enemy. It's too dangerous!"

I glared at him. "Don't you go telling me about what's dangerous."

He glared right back with his unnerving red eyes. We were locked in an ultimate stare-down, a battle of wills. Then suddenly, my legs gave way underneath me.

He caught me before I could fall, his strong arms supporting my trembling body. Quickly, he picked up the abandoned chair and set me down in it, then made way to the door. I caught one arm as he walked past.

"Wait!" I sputtered. "Where are you going?"

"You've been pretending that this was no big deal for way too long. You need medical attention. I'm getting a doctor."

"No!" Panic filled my voice. I felt really, really bad. I did not want to be alone. Was I going to die? Piper didn't die from it. But Piper reached Perfect Attunement! Was I going to die? I was hyperventilating. "Don't leave me!"

"Okay, okay." He grabbed another chair and sat down next to me. "I'm not going anywhere." I calmed down a bit, regaining control over my breathing. I still felt horrible, but I wasn't just going to drop dead. At least, I didn't think so.

"Have a cookie." My voice broke the awkward silence. I didn't think that _I_ was going to eat the rest of the sandcakes, probably because I felt like I was about to throw up, so I offered them to him. He accepted one silently, munching on in, before mumbling a thank you.

Suddenly, a violent fit of coughing wracked my frame. I was shaking, trembling, and hacking my lungs out, and I couldn't stop.

I'm not sure how, but I ended up in his arms. All I could do was stare fearfully into his deep, emotionless red eyes. Then, I didn't feel anything anymore, just numbness. Everything faded. The world turned black, then red, then black. I realized that I was blinking. Blackness, his crimson eyes, blackness.

"No!" His voice, filled with anger and worry, made me blink my eyes open again. "You can't leave me!"

His lips were on mine, all warm, and suddenly, my entire body jolted. Heat rushed through me again. I looked at myself, and to my surprise, I was glowing purple. I took a deep breath, the first in a while.

"Perfect Attunement. About time. I was getting tired of being sick," I joked. He flashed me a smile.

I brought my lips back onto his, kissing him again.

"And that was for saving my life."

"Saving your life is part of the job description, Master."

"Whatever."

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Hope you enjoyed!


	11. What's Gotten Into Finn?

Author's Note: Well, this story has taken forever for me to update, too! Sorry, all you people who liked it and were waiting for the next chapter! Actually, this story was on semi-permanent pause when I got several requests to update soon. To everyone: if you have a story that you're absolutely dying for the next chapter, just tell me about it, in a review or in a private message. I love to hear about which stories you like, and as long as I know someone is reading, I don't mind continuing it! Reviews also help convince me to update. This chapter is for Sweety Teee, who reminded me to continue this. Special thanks to Pascy, Helliexx, and Sweety Teee for reading and reviewing! You're awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Storm Hawks.

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Things went on fairly normal for the next couple of months. Talons and Sky Knights fought, there were various crystals to be found, various Terras to help rescue from poverty and add to Cyclonia, and various plans and schemes that the Storm Hawks tried to stop. Sometimes they were successful, sometimes I was successful. Either way, the empire had never been better. _I_ had never been better. I was having the time of my life, playing with crystals, helping people.

_Ring, Ring!_

It was midnight in Cyclonia, and I was just finishing up my latest crystal project—using crystal energy to attract other crystal. I concentrated, pulling a bag from one side of my lab over to me. It worked! I had finally gotten the hang of it.

I glanced at the large crate of crystals at my feet. It was a shipment of new grade-A crystals, samples from our mines all around the Atmos. I was reminded why I wanted the power to float crystals around in the first place. Sorting was a nightmare, especially when most of the shelves were so high.

Oh, well. Might as well get a head start. The first one was a Solaris crystal. I pointed one finger at it, and it rose into the air. I turned, still keeping my arm raised and lifted it to its appointed shelf to join my other Solaris crystals.

_Ring, Ring!_

The jangling of the phone distracted me, nearly causing me to drop the crystal. I set it down on the shelf with my mind, then picked the cause of my distraction up, sighing. Who in the world would call at this hour?

"Hi. Did I wake you?"

It was a strangely familiar voice. Who was it? "No," I replied suspiciously. "Just who is calling?" The only person I had given my Cyclonian number to was Piper, but this was a male voice.

"Tcha-cha! I knew that you'd be awake! I mean, I would have called earlier, but then Piper would have been awake and she would have gotten all mad at me. And Aerrow still is convinced you're crazy, and Stork thinks you're evil, so I thought it would just be easier to call you when they were asleep."

"Finn!?!" There was no mistaking his tone, and signature "Tcha-cha." But why in the world would Finn of the Storm Hawks want to call me?

"Yeah, it's Finn. Hey, so Piper's been going on about how cool you are, and how you're not really evil. Is that true?"

"Um, yes?" This conversation was really confusing me. What in the world could he want?

"So, well, I was wondering if you could help me out."

"Depends on what it is," I replied suspiciously.

"Well, Stork was teasing me again about how skinny I was, and how I can't even lift Junko's KnuckleBusters. Do you…I don't know, do you have some sort of crystal that makes people buff?"

I stared at the phone, shocked. I certainly was not expecting that. Finn wanted more muscles? Chroma-crytals could change appearance, but not size. Although…now I was thinking, there was a bacteria I was working with, called Aggrospores, that were supposed to increase the infected's strength exponentially. However, these were still extremely experimental. I had no idea how they would work on an actual person.

When I told Finn this, he seemed extremely excited. "Perfect!" he exclaimed. "Now, here's the plan."

---------------

One week later, I stood before the Storm Hawks, disguised. "Here is the package. Please, you must deliver it swiftly. Do not let it fall into Cyclonian hands, and whatever you do, don't open it!" It would be a disaster if the spores got absorbed by the wrong Storm Hawk.

Aerrow took the canister, smiling, then the whole team turned and walked back to their ship.

I prayed this would work, for Finn's sake.

---------------

The next morning, as usual, my commanders and I were having breakfast. Ravess was trying to teach Snipe how to use a fork, which I thought was hopeless, but then again, it was _her_ brother, not mine.

Dark Ace was reading the papers. He was unusually quiet. I got a bad feeling.

"Cyclonis?"

I turned my head so I was facing him.

"Do you have anything to do with this?" I looked at the article he was pointing at. It was a giant monster that looked somewhat like…

Oh, God. It was Finn. My experimental spores didn't work as well as I thought they would.

I _told_ him it was a bad idea, but _no,_ he just _had_ to insist!

"I judge by the annoyed expression of your face, the way your cheeks are red and your lips are all puckered, that you do have some idea what happened yesterday."

I sighed. "Finn asked me for some help. It was an experimental spore, but he insisted."

He laughed. "Well, Master, accident or not, you are a genius. This is probably the funniest story I've ever seen. It states here how you 'tricked the Storm Hawks' and how this Finn monster 'nearly destroyed the whole Terra.' I don't think I've laughed this hard for years."

I squinted at him. He was grinning. "You're not laughing," I pointed out.

He grinned. "I'm laughing on the inside. There's been little reason to laugh until you came." I blushed, then glanced at the picture. Finn did look rather funny. I cracked a grin, then I imagined Finn, harmless, skinny Finn, turning into a terrifying monster, and I burst into laughter. Dark Ace took one look at my face, then he started chucking again. By then, I was rolling around on the floor in laughter. Dark Ace started laughing harder, and soon he was rolling around in hysterics with me.

Ravess gave both of us a condescending look. "Seriously," she said, putting her head in her hands.

Snipe noticed us, found the sight funny, and squirted orange juice out of his nose laughing at us.

Raves put her hand to mouth to stifle a chuckle. I guess we were a funny sight, all these Cyclonians rolling around on the floor, clutching their sides and tears of mirth rolling down their cheeks. Still, it couldn't have been as funny as the image of a Finn-monster running around confused.

Hey, maybe I could get the hang of 'evil' if it meant doing this that were this hilarious.

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Sorry it took so long! I hope you like it! Next up is "Five Days."


	12. Five Days

Author's Note: Hey! I know that I update pretty erratically, but here the next chapter is! Let me say, this chapter was the most fun yet to write. First of all, if you haven't seen the episode "Five Days," number 38, I recommend. Go on YouTube right now! It is in my opinion the awesomest episode there is, probably because (a) Cyclonis comes and kicks ass, that's what the entire episode is about, and (b) you get to see a very human side of Cyclonis in the end.

REVIEW CORNER!!!

Helliexx—thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it!

Pascy—yeah, Finn always makes me laugh. I'm glad you got a giggle from it, too! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Tsuki-hime Neko—thanks for subscribing, and I'm so glad that you like the story!!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing! ;-)

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I was installing a new heating and cooling system into my laboratory, and, of course, I had wanted to hire professional help. Unfortunately, due to cost cuts around the palace (which was my fault, I had been increasing funding in public service projects and decreasing taxes, and the extra money had to come out of somewhere) we couldn't hire professional, aka Wallop, help. So with some trepidation, I allowed the strongest Talon, Snipe, to offer his services.

"Five. Lift the piping to level five," I directed. Snipe looked confused. "Level five and on the right."

Snipe still looked confused, but by now I was convinced that he always looked confused if you told him something that didn't have anything to do with smashing stuff. "Um, my right, or your right?" he mumbled. Then, he actually tried to look down at his hands to determine which one was left and which was one right. Unfortunately, he was holding the giant metal pipe, and forming "L's" with his thumbs made the pipe drop. Sure enough, one thing hit another, and in seconds my beautiful lab was in ruins.

Snipe tried to pick up the rubble, but I angrily brushed him away. He was trying my temper. I was not happy at all about having him help me in the first place, when I had the crystals to do it myself, and now he had destroyed my lab? "Just get out," I sighed.

Then, I noticed something. One of the pipes already attached to the ceiling had fallen onto the table. _It couldn't be that table!_ I thought. _I didn't leave it lying on that table!_ However, as well as I could remember, I had.

I lifted a hand, and a Levitation crystal flew to me. Wielding the crystal's power, which was now so commonplace to me, I lifted the rubble off of the table.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed. Why? Why this? Why me? Why now?

Snipe had smashed my cell phone.

No, I'm not one of those Valley girls who need their material things. Yes, I know that there is no cell phone coverage in the Atmos. The reason that I kept the otherwise worthless piece of plastic and metal around was because (a), it was my last piece of home, and (b) it had the only pictures I had of my family. There was one picture of my mother and me hugging that I looked at every night. I couldn't have been more than three in the snapshot, but I loved it. It was the phone's wallpaper.

I had worked so hard to create a crystal-powered charger, just so I could look at my mom and remember her.

Hours later, Ravess was the one who came and found me. I'm not sure if it was a dare, or if she was worried that I was going to punish her brother. All I know is she found me, not crying, as I was too shocked to cry, but sitting on the floor staring straight ahead, cradling the broken pieces of plastic and smashed computer chips that were all that remained of my precious cell phone.

"Hey? Are you okay?"

I looked up in surprise to see the Talon leader observing me with worry in her eyes. I wiped my cheeks, which was kind of pointless as they were completely dried, and mumbled, "Uh-huh."

She squatted down next to me. "What did my idiot brother break this time?"

"A piece of Earth technology," I explained, showing her the broken phone parts. She looked at me in confusion. "It's the only…picture…I have…of….my….mother." Finally, admitting the loss got to me. I burst into tears.

"Hey, hey, it's alright now," Ravess said. "You ever wonder why Snipe is so stupid? He wasn't properly formed as a baby. He was born three weeks late. He overdeveloped in the womb, and the resulting labor killed my mother. I was raised by my aunt, and when I became sixteen, I raised Snipe myself. Still, I know what it's like to miss your mom."

I nodded, suddenly feeling very bad. My mom was fine, back on Earth. She was probably more than happy. Poor Ravess…I didn't even want to think about how horrible that must have felt for her.

"You know, kiddo, unlike people, you can fix stuff when it's broken." I looked up at her in surprise. "Come on, surely you've heard of a Nil crystal!"

"Yeah," I replied, going into automatic information regurgitation mode. "Nil crystal, and extremely rare, small, nondescript green crystal capable of returning absolutely anything to its previous state, provided it gets the right amount of time and the thing itself's parts are still fairly intact, or at least all present. The only known one to exist in the Atmos is currently owned by the crystal expert and giant named Gundstaff, who previously was considered to be of the Cyclonian alliance but I have not heard from him since I took the throne." I took a deep breath. "From what I've heard of the Nil crystal, and its similarities to various crystals like Regeneration crystals, it would probably only take me 150 hours of non-stop work to map its matrix from guessing and checking, and another 200 to completely create the crystal from scratch in my lab. 24 hours in a day, taking four hours to eat, sleep, and deal with running the empire business, that's still 17.5 days of solid—"

"Whoa, slow down," Ravess chuckled. "Did you ever consider just going to the Gundstaff guy and asking him?"

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Twenty minutes later, I was standing outside of Gundstaff's hut with a small Nightcrawler escort.

A minute to explain the 'Nightcrawler' part—Nightcrawlers weren't evil, just like Wallops aren't evil. They're just misunderstood. Their society existed mostly in underground caverns, near crystals. They absolutely adore crystals, and need them to survive, just like humans need the sun. They actually use crystals to create food, to purify water, and simply to do everything. The youngest, most inexperienced Nightcrawler has more power over crystals than the greatest human Crystal Mage.

However, Nightcrawlers practically worshiped the crystals, and they believed that using them excessively in battle or even for leisure was sacrilege, so they learned to fight without crystals. Unfortunately, without crystal weapons and misunderstood as they were, they were easy pickings to the Atmosians.

A treaty with Cyclonia had changed all that. Now, we supplied them with crystals, and the ones that wanted to were allowed to form elite squadrons for special, peaceful, crystal-finding missions. Together, we had uncovered 34 new mines that supplied the empire with thousands of new crystals every week.

A minute to explain the 'escort' part—first of all, Ravess and Dark Ace said no way was I allowed out of Cyclonia without protection, but I didn't want to disrupt the chain of command even more by taking both of them with me. Secondly, I was extremely scared of this giant. I had heard that he was very…mean. I had brought some scrolls, in case he wanted to trade knowledge or something.

Biting my lip, I carefully knocked on the door. For a moment, there was no response, then I heard, "Who are you? Why are you bothering me again?"

Oh, great. This was extremely intimidating. I decided that I did like looking at the bottom of the door, either, so I focused Levitation Crystal energy around myself, floating up at what I hoped would be his eye level.

The door was yanked open, and I stared right in the eyes of a old, grumpy-looking, extremely tall giant.

"Master Cyclonis," he sputtered. "What an unexpected surprise! Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Come in, come in!"

I was shocked by his change of attitude, but I did as he bade. Inside, I looked around to see a larger-than-life, but clean and homey laboratory/living room cross. "Have you come to collect your monthly tribute?"

"…"

"Of crystals?"

My eyes widened. "Look, I don't know what the Master Cyclonis's before did to you, but I want you to know that Cyclonia has changed. We're not going to steal your crystals anymore. We want to help you. We want to make lives better."

He laughed. "You're a young one, still all naïve and idealistic. Let me ask you this: why did you come?"

I blushed. "I need a crystal."

Still laughing, he replied, "Then come and get it."

"But I can pay you," I protested. "Money, crystals, Talon protection—"

"I don't need money, I can't exactly go to a regular marketplace. I don't need any more crystals. Talon protection? I can protect myself quite well enough."

"Research."

His eyes narrowed. "You would share your findings with me?"

I nodded vigorously. "I actually brought you some copies of scrolls. Even if I'm not borrowing crystals, I'll still send you all my new findings. Knowledge should be shared."

His face split into a true grin, and his eyes sparkled. "Well, maybe you're not too bad, young Master. I couldn't stop you from taking my crystals, but if you want to send me your research, you've got yourself a deal."

I smiled back, depositing the scrolls I brought on the table. "Could I please borrow your Nil crystal for a day? I promise I'd return it tomorrow. Something precious of mine was broken, and there's no other way to fix it."

He nodded slowly. "Can I ask you a favor? I heard that you finally managed to map the matrix of a Regeneration crystal. If I let you hold onto this Nil crystal for a month or to, do you think you could map it's matrix and send me a copy?"

I bobbed my head enthusiastically. "I'd love to!"

Together, we made our way into his vault.

Inside, however, there was a surprise. In place of the Nil crystal was a small note saying, "_Sorry. I promise we'll return it. The Storm Hawks_."

"It should be there!" Gundstaff shouted, eyes wide with a mixture of rage and fear. "When I get my hands on those kids—"

"Hey, don't freak out," I soothed. "I need to visit the Storm Hawks anyway, so I'll get it back. Then I can map it for you. I promise you'll have your crystal and matrix map back in a month."

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"Hey, Piper!" I said into the radio-phone.

"Hi!" came the cheerful reply. "You have no idea what a good time this is, Aerrow's bedridden and we're just circling Terra Nostras. It's rather boring; I never thought I'd say this, but Aerrow is actually getting annoying!"

"So you're using the Nil crystal to heal Aerrow?" I inquired.

"Yeah…" her tone turned a bit more suspicious. "Why do you need to know?"

"Do you think I could stop by and pick it up?" I asked.

"Um, well, the team doesn't really trust you that much. Stork is determined you're evil, Junko's still sort of scared of you from the Storm Engine thing, Aerrow is convinced that you're either insane or evil, and Finn suddenly vehemently hates you. It would be better if you didn't come."

"I need the crystal, Piper," I pleaded. "You don't understand. It's about my family."

She was silent for a second. "Okay. But I don't know, be ready for them to attack you. Don't expect a warm welcome at all."

"Thanks. I owe you, big time." I hung up, a grateful smile plastered across my face. Turning to the Nightcrawlers, I commanded, "Set a course for Terra Nostras, guys!"

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The Condor was there, all right, but the Storm Hawks did not look friendly. As I brought my skimmer over towards them, they actually began shooting at us! First, I disabled Piper's crystal with a blast of my own, then I tried to fly towards them, with varying success.

The good news was, I didn't get hit by anything. The bad news was, I still need a lot of practice if I'm ever going to get a driver's license back on Earth, because I absolutely fail at skimmer flying. After spinning upside-down uncontrollably for about the tenth time in a row, I decided to ditch the sky ride for a levitation crystal.

Suddenly, I was a lot more in control. I hit the Condor with another blast that would take out all their electronics, so they could stop shooting at my innocent fleet.

Next, I ended up on the roof above the bridge. Concentrating my crystal power as to do the least damage possible to the roof, I burned a small hole and floated in. The Merb pilot, Stork, was standing at the controls. "Hello, Storm Hawk," I said politely, grinning at him.

"Goodbye, Master Cyclonis," he snarled, violently yanking a lever.

Wait a second, was I?—too late, the floor beneath me popped up, hurtling me from the top of the ship. In the air, I whirled around, and flew back down, blowing up the trap and staring carefully for any other surprises the Merb could have prepared.

The pilot looked ready to fight. Something about his stance scared me; he looked like some ninja or something.

"Sorry," I whispered, then hit him with my Paralyzer crystal. He flew backwards and slammed into the ground, unable to move and completely unharmed.

It was self defense. I was protecting myself from an assailant. Still, I felt really bad just leaving him right there on the floor.

"Freeze, Cyclonis. We've got you surrounded."

I turned to see a very angry looking Finn and his Wallop friend pointing their weapons at me. "Look, Finn, I warned you it was experimental—" I tried to plead.

He aimed his crossbow at me.

Sighing, I Paralyzed both the Storm Hawks. Seriously, couldn't they tell that I didn't want to fight?

Walking down the hallway, I finally came to the infirmary. However, Piper stood in the doorway. "Not a chance, Cyclonis," she growled.

"Piper, my best friend forever, I'm so sorry," I gushed. "Look, I can explain!" She raised her staff, eyes narrowed.

"We're not going down without a fight," she hissed.

Suddenly, a Nightcrawler jumped on her, tackling her from behind. I was very, very grateful that I had indeed come with an escort. I quickly Paralyzed them both before either could hurt one another. "Yes you are," I scolded. "Violence is bad. No violence! No!"

Finally, I had reached my goal. "Aerrow," I said, stepping into his room. "What happened here slipped on a banana peel?"

"Something like that," he replied.

"Oh, really?" I absolutely failed at making small talk. His blue rabbit thingy tried to drop a wardrobe on my head, but I stopped it with one finger. (That was a new crystal trick. It had taken me months to perfect, but it was so worth it.)

"Look, what do you want, Cyclonis?" Aerrow asked.

"The Nil crystal," I admitted. "Piper must have you on a Five Day plan. She's a smart girl. It's too bad you have ten minutes left, and I'm already right here." I paused for a second, and he closed his eyes, in fear or anticipation, I'm not sure.

"Do you have any chairs? Because I'm going to get really bored of standing here for ten minutes straight."

"What!?!" Aerrow sputtered, eyes wide now, in surprise.

"Chairs? To sit on? Please? I promise I don't have the swine flu or anything!"

He looked even more confused over the 'flu' comment (I guess it was an Earth thing), but then again, I think he was getting over the surprise of me being willing to wait for the crystal. "You mean, you're not just going to take it in an attempt to permanently cripple me?"

I looked at him, confused. "Why would I do that? It's not even my crystal to begin with. I feel bad enough having to fight my way through your crew to get to you. I never wanted to hurt anyone!"

He shook his head. "I don't suppose you want to tell me whatever diabolical plan you're going to use this Nil crystal in?"

I sighed. "It's a long story."

"We've got time," he replied. "Nine minutes and fifteen seconds, to be exact."

I smiled. "Okay, fine. I'm not from around here. I'm from…well, I guess you could say, the Far Side of Atmos. The Cyclonians 'recruited' AKA kidnapped me because I possessed natural crystal skills. They set me up as the old Master Cyclonis's heir. With no way to get back to my family, I was stuck in the position of Master."

"I've tried my best to change around Cyclonia for the better. Economically, we have no homeless people, no one without jobs, and no one goes hungry. The only reason we're still fighting you is actually because you're still fighting us. We're just trying to defend ourselves."

"The reason I need that crystal is Snipe smashed up my lab while I was working on remodeling, and the only picture I have of my mother was destroyed. I want to get it back, and only the Nil crystal can fix it."

"I'm so sorry," Aerrow whispered. Empathy filled his large emerald eyes. "We'll find a way to get you back to your home, I promise."

I shook my head. "It's not about me anymore, Aerrow. The people of Cyclonia depend on me. Also, if I just left, do you really think the Cyclonians would stay the good guys?"

He was silent.

"So, um, you've never really introduced yourself," he began. "I mean, I'd feel a bit awkward calling you Cyclonis all the time."

"Don't," I replied. "It's who I am now. Plus, it's easier just to think that I'm evil, right? Less moral qualms about fighting me."

He sighed. "Yeah, sorry about that. You know, you should really come to Terra Atmosia, and sign a peace treaty or something."

I smiled. "Could you guarantee they wouldn't shoot me down on sight? Like you Storm Hawks did, for instance?"

He grinned back sheepishly.

I glanced at the clock: five minutes past midnight. "Oops, we're done. You're all healed!" I exclaimed, then grabbed the crystal from his cast. He started laughing.

"What are you so happy about?" I asked suspiciously.

"I just remembered—that clock is three ticks too slow. I was healed two minutes before you got into the room."

I shook my head. "You're hopeless, Aerrow. Why exactly didn't you tell me?"

"Um, I kind of wondered what you were like. Piper talked an awful lot about you, and we all suspected sometimes when she was hogging the phone that she was talking to you…"

"What do you think of me? Am I insane?"

He blushed. "In a good way. You're rather nice, polite, you seem quite smart."

I grinned. "Thanks, Aerrow! Hope the next time I see you, we're not trying to shoot each other down out of the sky." He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, I teleported back to Cyclonia in a huge flash of red light.

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My cell phone was just where I left it—on the floor, in a neat pile of pieces. I concentrated the energy from the Nil crystal, and slowly but surely, they began to mold together. In a few seconds, it was whole again.

My mother smiled down on me, holding a younger, toddler me. I, in turn, was clutching a teddy bear.

Blinking tears from my eyes, I snapped the phone shut. Everything would be alright in the end. Now, to start mapping that Nil crystal matrix…

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That was such a fun chapter to write. First, I watched the episode again just because I loved it. Then, I re-watched the scene where she confronts all the Storm Hawks to make sure I got the right lines. You can check—it's pretty accurate!

Well, please review!


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